Hong Kong rose two positions to fifth in an annual global ranking of the world's most competitive economies, boosted by improved economic performance, which contributed to its rise in the standings.

The World Competitiveness Yearbook 2024 was released by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development on Tuesday, following an assessment of data from 67 countries and regions. 

The ranking evaluated economies based on four primary factors: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure.

“Hong Kong returns to fifth place mainly because of improvements in economic performance, business efficiency, and infrastructure. In government efficiency, it slightly drops from second to third,” according to the report.

According to the report, Hong Kong's improved economic performance, moving from 36th to 11th place was credited to “steep increases” in the domestic economy and employment sub-indicators.

Indeed, the city ranked first in the international trade and business legislation sub-categories, and it also placed within the top five in five other areas: international investment, tax policy, finance, basic infrastructure, and education.

A spokesperson from the Hong Kong government mentioned that the city's economy has been steadily recovering post-pandemic, attributing this progress to the “staunch support” from the central authorities. 

The spokesperson also highlighted that the administration had implemented measures to enhance market confidence and organised large-scale events to stimulate tourism and spending. 

Additionally, efforts were made to attract overseas enterprises and talent to the Special Administrative Region (SAR).

According to Chief Secretary Eric Chan, these rankings were “a recognition of the brilliant achievements” of the SAR government, as well as local and foreign talent and enterprises, in Hong Kong’s development and economy.

Chan added that high-quality talent and strategic businesses from across the world had “voted with their feet” by coming to Hong Kong to seek opportunities.

More than 120,000 people had arrived in Hong Kong, said the Chief Secretary, exceeding the initial target of attracting 35,000 per year.

Singapore returned to the number one spot in the rankings for the first time since 2020, followed by Switzerland and Denmark.